Is it possible to eat only 1500 calories a day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are a 5'7" woman who needs to lose weight? Will I be starving? I work out every day and take around 18,000 steps per day. I cannot seem to lose weight and realize I just need to stop eating so much. Not sure what is realistic though.

Yes – working out is for muscle, tone and cardio, eating less empty calories is for weight and losing inches. Sometimes if you work out too much, it’s very hard to cut the calories.

[Anonymous]

How much do you weigh and how much do you eat now? If you need to loose at your weight I assume you are 150+ lbs? In that case with that amount of activity you will be starving at 1500. You can surely do it, particularly if you eat high volume low calorie foods, but you probably don’t have to. I am 5’6” 145lbs and 1900 calories on weekdays and 2400 on the weekends makes me lose a bit less than 1lb of fat a week. 1800 every day would be an aggressive cut for me. What some people report here is maintenance makes me sad. I would not be able to eat so little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much do you weigh and how much do you eat now? If you need to loose at your weight I assume you are 150+ lbs? In that case with that amount of activity you will be starving at 1500. You can surely do it, particularly if you eat high volume low calorie foods, but you probably don’t have to. I am 5’6” 145lbs and 1900 calories on weekdays and 2400 on the weekends makes me lose a bit less than 1lb of fat a week. 1800 every day would be an aggressive cut for me. What some people report here is maintenance makes me sad. I would not be able to eat so little.

Op - I am 5’7” and weigh 148.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will likely be hungry. And, potentially angry.

Wegovy is the only thing that has fixed that for me. And fwiw, I have to stay below 1300 or so to lose weight. I'm 5'7" as well.

+1. Working out + calorie restriction was very effective in my 30s but it’s been a much tougher slog post kids. Before going on a GLP-1 I consistently kept my calories under 1500, tracking everything and focusing on lean protein (my macro goals were 45% protein, 30% carbs, 15% fats). I’d been weight lifting or hiit training for an hour 2x a week which is far less exercise time than OP but isn’t zero either. I lost a pound a month over the course of a year. I was pretty hangry about the headspace it was all taking and added a GLP-1 to my strategy.

[Anonymous]

So what if you are "hungry"? Nothing to fear.
Or keep the weight.
Fortunately you have a choice.
First world problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you weigh and how much do you eat now? If you need to loose at your weight I assume you are 150+ lbs? In that case with that amount of activity you will be starving at 1500. You can surely do it, particularly if you eat high volume low calorie foods, but you probably don’t have to. I am 5’6” 145lbs and 1900 calories on weekdays and 2400 on the weekends makes me lose a bit less than 1lb of fat a week. 1800 every day would be an aggressive cut for me. What some people report here is maintenance makes me sad. I would not be able to eat so little.

Op - I am 5’7” and weigh 148.

In that case you should not have all that much to lose unless you carry very little muscle. You should not need to cut super aggressively. Try to create a reasonable deficit that you can sustain and stick to it for several weeks. And adjust as needed based on progress. Start with a TDEE calculator to give you an estimate of your maintenance and eat some 300-500 calories less than that. The calculators are just an approximation and you might have to tweak based on actual results but this calculator has been closest to estimate my needs https://rippedbody.com/macro-calculator/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live daily off 1100-1200. 1500 is a spluge day. I'm extremely fit.

I know a good therapist for you

[Anonymous]

2000 calories is far more than necessary for most women. 1500 is definitely doable/normal/healthy

[Anonymous]

Yeah when I do this I lose a few lbs quickly. I don't count exactly calories but I am very calorie aware (a few years of an eating disorder where I did count calories stick with you).

A typical healthy day of eating for me is:
- coffee with whole milk. Probably 50 calories over 2 cups.
- bfast is berries with full fat greek yogurt with a little maple syrup or cottage cheese. Probably 250 calories.
- lunch might be big salad with lettuce, cucumber, avocado, jalapeño, corn, tofu, parm, croutons, a little caesar and little balsamic glaze (I like sweet/savory). Probably 500-600 calories.
- I tend to have a snack if I eat a salad for lunch. This might be a small bowl of chips or crackers and some hard cheese or fruit. Estimate 100-200 calories. If I notice my pants getting tighter and want a snack I go for something like cottage cheese, almonds, an apple, or a string cheese (not chips or candy).
- Dinner varies but about 500-600 calories of chicken/salad or veggies/sometimes a carb sometimes not. Often meatless. Tonight it was a rice noodle bowl with lots of veggies and various asian condiments, for probably 500 calories.
- I'm not big on dessert but if I eat it it will be fruit and a very small scoop of ice cream or a popsicle or piece of candy. Also not big on wine but if I have a glass it's just a glass. I am more likely to have vodka and seltzer.

I don't do this every day and certainly do eat heavier more caloric things but sometimes I skip meals, so it evens out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I think I need to eat what my sister does. She probably only gets about 1300 calories a day. She runs around 5-10 miles a day and on weekends does 16-20 miles a day. She is extremely thin.

Why would you want to be extremely thin?

Are you trying to break your hip?

OP - when I say extremely thin I mean she is 5'7" and is about 128 pounds. Exactly where I would like to be. But instead I am 5'7" and weigh 148 pounds.

128 is very thin for 5’7”. That’s almost my teen daughter’s size and she wears a size 0 or 2 in pants.

At any rate, I think 1500 is realistic but 1000-1200 is unhealthy and 1200-1400 is probably just going to be miserable. I use the LoseIt app to track my calories and I hit about 1400-1450 average (althogh I didn’t track the week we went on vacation!).

[Anonymous]

Of course. My 6'2 husband went from 2200 calories to 1400 calories lost 80 lbs and is now no longer overweight. You don't eat 3 meals a day and eventually you start losting weight and the pounds drop off. He's so much healthier now and after 2 weeks he didn't feel hungry anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2000 calories is far more than necessary for most women. 1500 is definitely doable/normal/healthy

1500 is the absolute minimum for any healthy woman. Less than that is certainly not healthy and hardly "doable." I can't believe the eating disorder on this site.

[Anonymous]

What do you eat now?

I’ve had success with eating 3 solid meals a day and aiming for 30g protein at each meal. I enjoy sweets.

I also follow the glucose goddess hacks which helps with consistent blood sugar and energy.

I stopped fasting and restricting food. For me I now need a good big breakfast with nothing sweet and 30g of protein.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2000 calories is far more than necessary for most women. 1500 is definitely doable/normal/healthy

1500 is the absolute minimum for any healthy woman. Less than that is certainly not healthy and hardly "doable." I can't believe the eating disorder on this site.

No, that's the amount to maintain weight for most women. Particularly if you're older than age 40 and under 5'10 in height, you're going to have to drop below 1500 calories.
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/healthy-changes-you-will-be-thankful-for#:~:text=A%20150%2Dpound%20woman%20needs,day%20to%20maintain%20his%20weight.

[Anonymous]

I’m short, on Wegovy, eating 1100-1200 per day, and still not losing weight. Menopause sucks!